Palestine
The State of Palestinei (Arabic: دولة فلسطين‎ Dawlat Filasṭīn) is a de jure sovereign state in the Middle East.1516 Its independence was declared on 15 November 1988 by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Algiers as a government-in-exile. The State of Palestine claims the West Bank and Gaza Strip,3 with Jerusalem as the designated capital,ii,45 with partial control of those areas assumed in 1994 as the Palestinian Authority. Most of the areas claimed by the State of Palestine have been occupied by Israel since 1967 in the aftermath of the Six-Day War.8 The State of Palestine applied for United Nations (UN) membership in 20113 and in 2012 was granted anon-member observer state status.1516 The October 1974 Arab League summit designated the PLO as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" and reaffirmed "their right to establish an independent state of urgency."17 In November 1974, the PLO was recognized as competent on all matters concerning the question of Palestine by the UN General Assembly granting them observer status as a "non-state entity" at the UN.1819 After the 1988 Declaration of Independence, the UN General Assembly officially "acknowledged" the proclamation and decided to use the designation "Palestine" instead of "Palestine Liberation Organization" in the UN.2021 In spite of this decision, the PLO did not participate at the UN in its capacity of the State of Palestine's government.22 In 1993, in the Oslo Accords, Israel acknowledged the PLO negotiating team as "representing the Palestinian people", in return for the PLO recognizing Israel's right to exist in peace, acceptance of UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, and its rejection of "violence and terrorism".23 As a result, in 1994 the PLO established the Palestinian National Authority (PNA or PA) territorial administration, that exercises some governmental functionsiii in parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.2425 In 2007, the Hamas takeover of Gaza Strip politically and territorially divided the Palestinians, with Abbas's Fatah left largely ruling the West Bank and recognized internationally as the official Palestinian Authority,26 while Hamas has secured its control over the Gaza Strip. In April 2011, the Palestinian parties signed an agreement of reconciliation, but its implementation had stalled26 until a unity government was formed on 2 June 2014.27 On 29 November 2012, in a 138–9 vote (with 41 abstentions and 5 absences),28 the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution 67/19, upgrading Palestine from an "observer entity" to a "non-member observer state" within the United Nations system, which was described as recognition of the PLO's sovereignty.1516293031 Palestine's new status is equivalent to that of the Holy See.[not in citation given]32 The UN has permitted Palestine to title its representative office to the UN as "The Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations",33 and Palestine has instructed its diplomats to officially represent "The State of Palestine"—no longer the Palestinian National Authority.31 On 17 December 2012, UN Chief of Protocol Yeocheol Yoon declared that "the designation of 'State of Palestine' shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents",34thus recognising the title 'State of Palestine' as the state's official name for all UN purposes. As of 30 October 2014, 135 (69.9%) of the 193 member states of the United Nations have recognised the State of Palestine.3035Many of the countries that do not recognise the State of Palestine nevertheless recognise the PLO as the "representative of the Palestinian people". The PLO's Executive Committee is empowered by the Palestinian National Council to perform the functions of government of the State of Palestine.36 All sources from Wikipedia. Category:Nations Category:Present Day Category:Real Nations Category:Nations in Asia Category:Arab League Category:Present day Category:Nations in the Middle East Category:Countries Category:Modern Nations Category:Modern Countries Category:Countries in the Middle East Category:Countries in Asia